Automated ordering systems for UK restaurants and takeaways: what each option actually automates

What "automated" should mean in a kitchen

A manual order passes through at least three pairs of hands. The customer says what they want, someone writes it down or types it into the till, and the kitchen reads it. Every step is a chance to mishear "no onions", forget the extra naan or miss the call completely at 7pm on a Friday.

An automated ordering system cuts out the middle step. The customer chooses from your menu themselves, the system checks required choices and takes payment, and the order lands in the kitchen in a fixed format. Done well, that gives you:

• Fewer missed orders, because nobody needs to be free to pick up the phone.
• Fewer mistakes, because the order is written by the person who wants it, using your option lists.
• Payment before cooking, if you take cards online.
• A customer record, so you can reach regulars again if they've agreed to it.

Not every product sold as "automated" does all four. The rest of this guide goes through the options one by one.

The options compared

Phone orders: keep them, but shrink them

Plenty of customers still prefer to ring, and some always will. The question is how much of your evening that phone should take up.

Typing calls into the till

If you already have an EPOS, entering phone orders on it gives the kitchen a clean ticket. It doesn't free anyone up, though. The person answering is still tied to the call, and on a busy night the phone keeps ringing while they type.

AI phone answering

Some platforms now sell voice assistants that answer the phone, read the menu and take the order. Owner.com, for example, lists AI Phone Ordering among its products. Before you sign up for any of these, ask:

• What happens when a caller asks something off-menu, or about allergens?
• Can a human take over mid-call?
• How is it priced: per call, per minute, per order or a flat fee?
• Does it take payment, or does the order arrive unpaid?

Allergens matter most. When someone orders food at a distance, you have to give allergen information before they buy and again when the food arrives. A voice assistant has to handle that properly. Our guide to allergen information for online ordering sets out what's required.

Steering callers to a link

The simplest automation is a habit. When a regular rings, take the order, then tell them the web address for next time. Put the same link on your Google listing, receipts, bags and counter. Over a few months, more regulars order online, and the phone is left for people who need it. How to move Just Eat customers to your website covers the same idea for marketplace customers, without breaking your contract.

Online ordering pages

This is the workhorse. A customer opens your page, picks dishes and options, chooses collection or delivery, pays and submits. What to check:

• Required options. If the kitchen needs an answer ("mild, medium or hot?"), the system should refuse the order until it gets one.
• Delivery areas. Fees and minimum order by area, so you don't accept a £9 order from eight miles away. Chefzi handles this through delivery zones.
• Payments. Card payment upfront removes no-shows on collection orders. Stripe lists 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and 2.8% + 20p for premium UK cards.
• How the kitchen hears it. A silent email inbox isn't automation. You want an alert that keeps going until someone responds.
• Where it lives. Your own domain, or a button on your existing site through an ordering widget.
• Cost per order. A flat monthly fee stays the same however busy you get. A per-order commission grows with every order. Try your own numbers in the commission calculator.

QR ordering at the table

For dine-in, a QR code on each table lets a seated guest order from their own phone without waiting to catch someone's eye. It's most useful for second rounds, drinks with food and desserts, when staff are busiest. Things to check: the ticket shows the table number, the menu loads quickly on mobile data, and you know whether guests pay before the order fires or at the end. Some enterprise systems add running tabs and bill splitting. Simpler ones take payment with the order.

Self-service kiosks

Kiosks suit high-volume counters: think quick-service chains and food halls. They're a hardware project as well as a software one. As a published example, The Access Group's QikServe pricing page lists kiosks at £75 per licence per month, but only for deployments of 11 or more licences with a minimum of 10 screens. POS Connect costs extra, and hardware comes separately from partners, bought outright or on a subscription. Access's own comparison is that kiosks suit high-footfall venues where speed at the counter matters, while QR ordering suits table service, dine-in and click and collect. For one site, an ordering page and QR codes usually do the same job without the screens.

What Chefzi automates, and what it doesn't

Chefzi is online ordering for UK restaurants, cafés and takeaways. It automates:

• Online ordering for collection and delivery from your own page, with required options and delivery zones.
• QR table ordering, with the table number on every ticket.
• Card payments through your own Stripe account on the £29 plan, so card orders are paid before you cook. On the £19 plan, customers pay in cash.
• Kitchen alerts. Orders arrive in the Chefzi app on a phone or tablet you already own. It rings until someone accepts or rejects. If the device goes offline, Chefzi sends an SMS and then makes a phone call.
• Promo codes and one ordering link to share with callers, on Google and on your packaging.

It doesn't answer the phone, run kiosks, connect to a till or offer AI voice ordering. If those are must-haves, an enterprise platform or a specialist is the better fit. Our Owner.com alternative page and our guide to the best online ordering systems in the UK compare platforms that offer more. The full list of exclusions is on what Chefzi does not do.

Choosing in five questions

1. Where are orders lost today? Missed calls, mistakes or queues. Fix that first.
2. How many orders come by phone? Count a normal week. If it's most of them, start by steering callers to a link.
3. Do guests eat in? If yes, add QR codes before thinking about kiosks.
4. Do you need a till link? Multi-site operators with stock control often do. Many independents don't.
5. What does it cost in a busy month? Compare a flat fee with commission at your real order volume.

A quick way to read your answers: if you run a pizza shop or kebab shop that's mostly collection and delivery, an online ordering page with alerts and card payments takes most of the load. A sit-down restaurant adds QR codes. A busy counter with queues out of the door is where kiosks start to make sense.

Automate your orders without new hardware

Early Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deal: new sign-ups get 3 months free, with no setup fee. The deal ends at 23:59 on 1 December 2026.

After the free period, Chefzi is £19 a month for cash or no-card ordering, or £29 a month with online card payments through your own Stripe account, per location, excluding VAT. Standard Stripe fees apply. There's no setup fee and no commission. See Chefzi pricing.

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Frequently asked questions

What is an automated ordering system for a restaurant?

It's any system that takes a customer's order and passes it to the kitchen without a member of staff writing it down or typing it in. The common types are an online ordering page, QR ordering at the table, self-service kiosks and AI phone answering. Each one automates a different part of the job.

Can I automate phone orders?

Partly. Some platforms sell AI phone answering that takes orders by voice. Owner.com, for example, lists AI Phone Ordering as a product. The other route is to keep answering the phone but steer regular callers to your ordering link, so more orders arrive already written and paid.

Do I need a kiosk to automate orders?

Not usually. Kiosks suit busy counters. The Access Group's QikServe kiosks, for example, are sold only for deployments of 11 or more licences with at least 10 screens, and hardware is extra. A single restaurant or takeaway can automate most orders with an online ordering page and QR codes.

Does Chefzi answer the phone?

No. Chefzi automates orders placed online or by QR code. They arrive in the Chefzi app, which rings until someone accepts or rejects. If the device goes offline, Chefzi sends an SMS and then makes a phone call. Chefzi doesn't answer customer calls, run kiosks or connect to a till.

How much does an automated ordering system cost?

It depends on the type. Published examples range from per-site monthly licences of £75 to £110 for QikServe's products, before hardware, to flat monthly plans. After the free period, Chefzi is £19 or £29 a month per location, excluding VAT, with no commission and standard Stripe fees on card orders.

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